Scores of residents in the Sekondi–Takoradi Metropolis of the Western Region are resorting to rubbing alcohol and homemade remedies to avoid contracting the deadly coronavirus due to the shortage of hand sanitizers.
Leading super markets and malls have all run out of hand sanitizers leaving residents trekking from one shop to the other in search of other forms of items to protect themselves.
At the Anaji Choice Mart, mall attendants told 3news.com that there was a mad rush for hand sanitizers over the weekend and as a result they have run out of stock. They were ensure when they will restock.
The situation was the same at the Carlos Supermarket at the Central Business District of Takoradi. Customers who had come hoping to get hand sanitizers to buy were left disappointed.
“This is the fifth supermarket I have visited. I have been moving around Market Circle for the past 40 minutes and I cannot get any to buy. Now, I don’t know where I will get one to buy because the places I went were the most reliable”, Kwamina Otoo complained.
At the Day by Day Pharmacy, the attendant explained that there is a shortage at the wholesale where they buy the hand sanitizers from. The pharmacy has run out of stock.
When 3news.com visited the M Star Trading Ventures, the team learnt that about nine customers paid in advance to get the products reserved for them if the shop takes new delivery.
“We don’t have hand sanitizers in stock. But we have gloves and face masks but the rate at which they are being bought, I’m not sure tomorrow by this time we will have some in stock”, pharmacy assistant at the shop Hafsa Mensah said.
She indicated that some customers buy rubbing alcohol when “I tell them that we don’t have hand sanitizers. So, our rubbing alcohol is also moving very fast”.
Some residents who were at the shop to buy rubbing alcohol, gloves and face masks narrated their ordeal.
“I have been moving round Takoradi as if I don’t have anything to do. What is even making the situation worse is that, I am learning that the price has increased astronomically. I met a lady and she told me after moving round for about an hour she finally gets one and it was sold to her at GHC25 from the original price of GHC12. It is so bad that some people want to use these difficult times to make money”, Big Ben, a frustrated resident said.
Meanwhile, some people are using other formulas to protect themselves in the absence of hand sanitizers.
“This morning, I was watching television and I heard the doctor who was being interviewed advising that in the absence of a hand sanitizer we could mix alcohol, spirit, hydrogen and use to wash our hands. So, I’ve bought some items and will try them”.
By Eric Yaw Adjei | 3news.com
